SAN MARCOS, Texas (2/14/19) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team dropped a Sun Belt Conference contest 68-54 to Texas State at Strahan on Thursday evening.

The Red Wolves (9-14, 4-8) were paced by Peyton Martin’s 15 points and five rebounds, while Jireh Washington added eight, but the team could not overcome a hot shooting night from the Bobcats’, who drained 45.8 percent of their attempts and held a 49-28 edge on the boards.

“We did a good job of executing tonight’s defensive game plan, which was something that took us out of our comfort zone, but what I would have never guessed was that we would turn the ball 21 times,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “We did everything we could do on the defensive end, but we just gave them too many chances in the third quarter and that really ended up being the difference in the game.”

A-State trailed 28-26 at halftime, but Texas State(10-14, 5-7) used a big third quarter to help extend its lead to double-digits. A 7-0 run pushed the deficit to 39-29 with 5:10 to go in the quarter, while a 3-pointer from Da’Nasia Hood helped the lead grow to 15 at 51-36 just before the end of the period. The Red Wolves were outscored 23-10 in the frame and gave up eight offensive rebounds after surrendering just five in the first half.

Arkansas State worked the lead down to 62-52 with 1:16 left in the game after Morgan Wallace capped a 6-0 run with a three-point play, but Texas State was able to answer with an and-1 play of its own on the following trip down the court to halt that Red Wolves’ comeback attempt.

A-State struggled on the offensive end of the court and was just 19-of-53 (35.8 percent) from the floor. The squad also turned the ball over 21 times and gave up 13 offensive rebounds in the second half as the Bobcats increased their lead.

“We didn’t finish well,” Boyer said. “The thing about sports and especially basketball is that it seems like when things aren’t going well they just aren’t going well and that seemed to be the case tonight. For whatever reason, we just weren’t hitting the good looks that we had and it is just something you have to fight through.”

Brooke Holle led four Texas State players in double-figures with 21 points.

Arkansas State returns to action Saturday, Feb. 16, with a 2:00 p.m. road game at UT Arlington.